Mancini to battle board for cash as City boss plots Champions League success

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini will go head to head with his board this summer over the issue of transfer cash.

As Sportsmail revealed last week, Mancini wants to spend big to prepare for next season’s Champions League, while his City employers want him to offload some of the club’s high earners first.

In the wake of winning the FA Cup on Saturday — City’s first trophy for 35 years —Mancini made it clear he does not want to follow Tottenham’s lead by enjoying an exciting Champions League campaign only to finish outside the top four of the Barclays Premier League.

But City football administrator Brian Marwood suggested Mancini will be urged only to ‘tinker’ with his squad.

Mancini said: ‘This year I think we should take Tottenham as an example.

‘Tottenham played in the Champions League until the quarter-final and in the Premier League they are fifth.

‘It is difficult if you don’t have a big squad so that you can change six or seven players for every game. If we work well I don’t know if we can win the title next season because this is difficult, but I think we can arrive at this target in one or two years if we work well with the club.

‘We have a good team because we have a young team. We bought Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko. Only one player is older. Yaya Toure is 28.

‘The other players are too young, like Jerome Boateng. All these players can improve. For this reason I believe in this project.

‘If we need to, we can buy other good players. We can be a team who play together for a long time.’

While Mancini is understandably keen to build on this season’s success, Marwood and chief executive Garry Cook are being forced to consider the effects of UEFA’s forthcoming Financial Fair Play rules.

Marwood said: ‘We feel we are in a good position to compete.

‘I look at our squad and I see a lot of players who have come together in a short space of time. It is a team who are evolving.

‘I don’t think there will be major changes, just tinkering with the squad. We have put together a group whose average age is 24-25.

‘We believe there is a good four years with this group to develop even further. We are really excited about that prospect.

Party time: City celebrate winning their first trophy for 35 years at Wembley

‘In many respects, when you look back, it has been a missed opportunity not just for Manchester City but other clubs at the top to put a bigger challenge on Manchester United.

‘There is a huge amount of ambition with Manchester City, starting with Sheik Mansour right the way through the club. You have seen that with the players, you have seen that with Roberto Mancini.

‘He is very focused and not afraid to make tough decisions. It has got us into a position where we can hopefully move on.

‘But we have still got an awful lot left to achieve. What you cannot afford to do is be complacent.’

City were forced to share their day in the sun with neighbours Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson’s team clinched a record 19th Barclays Premier League title.

But City goalkeeper Joe Hart was not in the mood to share the spotlight, saying: ‘They can do what they like at Old Trafford. I’m annoyed to be even saying their name because this is about us. It’s about Manchester City winning the FA Cup.’